JD Vance gave a very popular speech the other day in Munich. At least, it was popular if you go by the amount of reaction to it. Gazillions of tons of digital ink have been spilled in reaction, as well as hundreds hours of videos of pompous German politicians (but I repeat myself) and others reacting to it.
But despite those gazillions of tons and hundreds of hours there has been a glaring deficit in the reaction. Very few people (that I have seen), and almost none that were opposed to it have… reacted to the details of the speech.
Details
The way the speech was arranged was that Vance, after some pleasantries, basically made a case in the following fashion:
The United States has stood with Europe with its money and soldiers, for a long time.
We have done so on the theory that we shared certain values.
He then listed a whole series of recent events, including an annulled election, and various people jailed for memes and praying. Including a letter by the Scottish government threatening people if they dared pray.
He then pointed out the massive democratic deficit that is the modern European project; where a whole series of policies have been carried out in direct opposition to the wishes of the European people.
He then asked why the Europeans expect the Americans to keep paying for the alliance if that is the way that the European leaders are going to act.
The Details
Now what was missing from the reaction? Well, it was any detailed reaction to (2) and (3). The people agreeing with Vance didn’t need to react, of course. They just quoted him, expressed shock, and moved on.
But for those that disagreed with him… they didn’t disagree with him! They didn’t say ‘No, those things didn’t happen’. They didn’t say, “Well, yes, that happened but we are working on fixing it, or they were exceptions, or they were in the periphery.” They didn’t even attempt to defend those things!
No, their principle reaction was, “You’re not allowed to say those things!” or “You don’t understand our laws.” Now, that last is particularly stupid. If you have a law that allows for people posting memes, or praying near a murder camp, to be arrested you shouldn’t just tell us we ‘don’t understand it’. Obviously we don’t understand it. You would need to explain it! (And good luck with that!)
False Equivalence
Now some of the people who disagreed with Vance, but seemingly even more who agreed in part, engaged in some rather dramatic false equivalence. Keeping in mind the details of what Vance said, let us examine their response:
You do the same thing! The other day the president didn’t let the AP into a press conference because he had a tempter tantrum about what they called the Gulf of America.
Now, let us look at what they are comparing this too. Someone arrested, and convicted, for praying near a child-murder clinic. So is this ‘the same thing’? Were they arrested? Convicted? In jail?
Not hardly.
Conclusion
This post was theoretically about the reaction of various people to a speech given by the US Vice President. But in reality, the subject was far wider. When we respond to something… did we actually hear or read the entire thing? Are we willing to discuss the details? Does our reaction even make sense in light of the details?
In politics as in theology, the details matter. Sometimes the details inform the general subject. And often, when you see people ignoring the details, it is because they can’t deal with them.
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Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books are published by Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations.
Arthur also has a substack, and a website.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
The Ultimate Irony was the reporter that said, "Free speech gave rise to the Nazis."
That reporter must have failed high school history, because anyone that has studied history knows that the Nazis censored speech, burned books, and imprisoned dissidents. Reporters in the Reich had to toe the line, or they'd be eliminated.
I hate to say it, but most of Europe is just one step away from going full communist.
America should withdraw from the EU, leave the UN, pull our military and our equipment out of Europe, and let them self-destruct.
We need to fix our own problems before we get overrun by people who don't love our country and want us dead.
By all appearances, the global Left is intellectually bankrupt. They substitute ad hominem for argument; everyone they dislike is a Nazi or a Russian, or both. Perhaps now that they have power, they have no further vision. Power was the only goal. Seems that question would be worth some ink.